Pumpkin Festival

DISCLAIMER: I am writing this while waiting for my plane to take off. So any typos are the fault of my fat fingers on the little iPhone keys!!

With that said I probably have no right to complain as I sit in a plane to Italy but I'm so sad about having to miss the annual Pumpkin Festival at home this year!! To me the Pumpkin Fest is the true sign that fall has begun and just such a reminder of why I love New England. To those of you who aren't familiar the Keene, NH Pumpkin Fest has been an annual occurrence for the last 20 years. The city center (which sounds funny now that I live in a "real" city) is shut down to traffic and is transformed into a gallery of creatively carved pumpkins!! For many years Keene actually held the World Record for the most lit Jack-O-Lanterns. Jumping from 600 carved pumpkins in 1991 to a record high of 29,762 pumpkins in 2009 the festival attracts people from all over.  I am fairly sure that we are no longer the proud owners of the World Record, as places like Boston have also started a Pumpkin Fest, BUT we still carry on with the Pumpkin Fest spirit. Now I have never been a very talented pumpkin carver, sometimes just scooping the guts from the pumpkin really is enough for me but when you are surrounded by friends and family with drinks and food, it really creates an atmosphere you just can't beat. I suppose this year I will live vicariously through photos and friends and Facebook as it is time to take off to Italy!!

PS. I published this post a few days after I wrote it as the Air France flight attendant reminded me that it was time to shut down all electronics...  so I was able to add some pictures from past Pumpkin Festivals!!